Cruise prep= Price family?

So on the long (24 hour...) drive to Florida for my cruise I had a lot of time to think. Along the way there was some GORGEOUS scenery especially once we actually got into Florida. While driving down the road we were surrounded by what looked a lot like a jungle. This got me thinking about Poisonwood Bible and how the Price family might have dealt with their upcoming trip much like my family has. I thought of how much my mom reminded me of Adah. A lot of times she doesnt really talk about what she's feeling and she is VERY analytical and likes to internalize many different facts and scenarios. While she's not at all bitter, my mom is very quiet and wise. My father on the other hand is very much a Ruth May. He is so exitable and is the one who wakes us up in the morning by throwing open the curtains and yelling "YOUR BURING DAYLIGHT!!!!" He is so much fun to travel and loves to explore and see everything he can whenever we go anywhere!! My brother is just like Leah. He is very logical and sees things in black and white, if its not right it is most definatly wrong. Seth thinks about everything that could happen and lays it all out in his head. While this leads to some unnecessary worry it makes the rest of us think about what might happen and helps us prepare. He also may or may not pretend like he knows everything... :)! Finally theres me. In preparation for this cruise I've realized that I'm more like Rachel than what I really want to admit. I constantly think about what other people will wear and how I'll stack up. I also think about how Jamaica will be different from home and if it will be dirty or to crowded. I even kind of worry about the people...will they bug me? Will they chase me around trying to make me buy stuff? What if they're dirty or rude?? Yup definetly more Rachel there than I'd like to admit.... So welcome to my 24 hour drive thoughts!! They used up a lot of time and even made me forget for a moment that I was stuck in the car with my little brother for another 10 hours!! >:S!!!

The Poison Wood smoke trap!

This week has been packed to the brim with many different mini adventures!  But sadly, this has hindered my reading experince with the Poison Wood Bible.  I got to the point where I was mostly skiming and searching
for great quotes, but when I got to the ant part, I read the whole thing.  It was a nice change of pace from the usual grind of Congo life.  It also let me (us as readers) see just how the charecters really act when lives are put up for  grabs.  I mean, Orleanna had to choose between Adah or Ruth-May, and she told Adah to "keep up."  Seriously?  She limps!  And those screw offs Rachel and Nathan are driving me crazy!!!  Rachel goes straight for the mirror, and Nathan preaches, he freaking preches!!!  I just wanted to go right into the book and beat some sense into him!  You can preach all your life, but you can only save your family when they are in danger, AND HE DID NOTHING!!  He is the reason that Leah is losing her faith.  How can he be so blind.

Whoa, I just worte a lot.  Anyway, last night I went to my great uncle's wake.  We stayed up untill 1A.M. and partyed like it was 1999.  Then today, we went to the memorial.  It was rather sad, but I was able to see all my cousins that I don't usually do.  All in all, it was a great time that will build me up as a charecter.

Well, tomorrow I'm off to see my great aunt, and will have a great time in Florida.  I also am going to read the entire rest of The Posion Wood Bible.  That way I won't fall behind in my other wise hectic life.

See you later.


And Alex[andria], you owe me 1$!!!!  The village really does get taken over by ants!!!!

Education..

So I was, and still kind of am nervous about the Senior Project. It definitely sounds like a lot of work that will be time consuming. A 7-10 page paper?! Scary! Especially since the longest paper I think I've ever written was about 4 pages. I will not procrastinate! When the topic was presented to us (Education) I was thinking in my mind "what kind of sub topics are there?" and then as Ms. Stariha talked about each and every one my jaw just dropped a little. It's shocking how many topics there are to discuss and that each one can be elaborated on in some way shape or form. I had a really hard time deciding what exactly I want to do my Project on because many of the topics interest me! Mostly everyone in our class is a hard worker, so I'm not too nervous about the group I am placed in. But there is the chance of someone not taking the Project seriously, which scares me and makes me a little more stressed than I already seem to be.

INCEPTION....!

Well this week in class I really liked the paradime shifts (I dont know if that's how you spell it?) But it was really cool, it made me think. How do you if something is real if it's only in your head? How do you know what is in your head is real or if you're just crazy without supporting evidence? This cylce could go on forever and makes one truly question: what is real, what do we create in our minds due to our perspective, and what makes something real?! This idea could drive someone crazy?!!! Well everyone have a good week off and dont forget to read!!! :D

EDUCATION!

Ms. Stariha's discussion today about the education system really got me thinking. I especially was interested when she was talking about merit pay. There is definitly two sides to this issue, and I am not sure which argument I side with. I understand completely why teachers don't want to get paid based on how well students in their class, (whom they do not get to select) do on a test. This would also cause teachers to teach strictly to a test which would make teachers feel confined to very specific material. But, from the other prospective, the way teachers are currently evaluated is probably not a fair examination of the teacher. Also, it makes sense that better teachers should get paid more money, I'm just not sure yet if standardized test is the best way to evaluate this. I'm in between!

Reflections

I was taking my dog for a walk this afternoon and it reminded me of the Poisonwood Bible because they are living in nature-closer to nature than we could know. It was so serene. I loved it so much. It was quiet, and the sun felt amazing. However, after I dropped her back off at my house, I left for a couple of hours, and in that time she rolled around in a pile of dung-that's right. My curfew is normally 10:00 on school nights, and I got a call from my mom at about 9:15 telling me "get home now and bathe your dog." Angrily I grumbled...but eventually gave in. I came home and the dog REEKED! I'm not sure if that's how it's spelled, but she smelled TERRIBLE. So, giving her a bath, I was reminded of the people in the Congo. They don't have soap like we do here. I mean, I bathed my dog with Suave shampoo, and they don't even have that for themselves. We take so many things for granted here, it's embarrassing. Nobody realizes that there is another world out there: one that we choose not to see. We are exposed to things on the news, or maybe a commercial about some orphan way-the-heck away from here. But that doesn't mean that they don't exist. I talk about this a lot, but I went to the slums of Chihuahua, Mexico last summer, and it was scary. I mean, it's the place where they warn us about dropping to the ground if we hear guns-and even in the middle of the day! The people there lived in tiny, one-room houses with poor roofs. The houses they lived in were probably the size of my bedroom, no lie. And that's not even close to what it's really like in some places. Even though it was the slums, there are still worse places-and that's extremely hard for me to wrap my mind around.

Poisonwood Bible Title Meaning???

Since the first day that we recieved our poisonwood bible books i was always curious as to why it was called such, and what the significance of Poisonwood was. Early on in the book it makes a brief appearance when Nathan is afflicted with horrible rashes, when he does not heed the warnings of Mama Tataba. Since that section Poisonwood has been absent, at least until Judges. On pg 276 on Adah's section she say "TATA JESUS IS BANGALA! declares the reverend every Sunday at the end of his sermon. More and more, mistrusting his interpreters, he tries to speak in kikongo." and further on she states "Bangala means something precious and dear. But the way he pronounces it, it means the Poisonwood Tree. Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, my friends! for Jesus will make you itch like nobody's business." To me these quotes epitomize just how foolheaded and ignorant Nathan is, meaning that he has not taken the time to understand the natives and their culture, he is unaware that a word in kikongo can have different meanings depending on the way that it is said. And as far as the natives are concerned Nathan is preaching the GOSPEL OF POISONWOOD(hence why the book is called the Poisonwood Bible.) Anyways these are just my opinions on the meaning of the title, and i would like to know what other people's thoughts were?